The Northern Path

The Swedish radio program Vetenskapsradion Historia often interviews archaeologists, and on April 24th they interviewed Dr. Kristina Jennbert of Lund University about her current research on falconry during the Iron Age and the Viking Age. The interview is in Swedish, but to summarize briefly in English, Jennbert has revisited the bird brooches found at Uppåkra, in view of archaeological remains including falcon bones deposited in rich graves which showed that falconry was an important pursuit of both men and women. She also reviewed the brooches with an ornithologist at the University, and came to the conclusion that the birds’ poses and the styling of their feet could very well represent birds of prey.

While the ornaments have traditionally been identified as ravens, in her written work Jennbert cautions against reflexively interpreting the brooches this way:

However, it is questionable whether Old Norse mythology gives answers to pre-Christian iconographic representations, and this is an ongoing discussion in the field of archaeology and history of religion.1

Still, mythology does provide another tantalizing suggestion: both Freya and Frigga had falcon cloaks, enabling them to fly. So there are really many possible connections between women and falcons here: the falcon bones in the women’s graves, the numerous finds of brooches with bird motifs, also found in women’s graves, and the falcon cloaks of mythology.

I couldn’t help wondering if a modern Heathen woman could find falcon or raven brooches to wear (for me it’s usually a very short leap from a theoretical question to a shopping opportunity), and the answer is definitely yes. I was told that the museum shop at Lund had reproductions, but there are reproductions to be found Stateside as well: The Viking Trader has two nice pins based on finds from Bejsebakken Denmark: a very nice brooch showing a bird of prey (item 330, pictured above right), and a “raven” very like the Uppåkra brooch (item 314, shown at the left, which comes as both a brooch and a pendant).

1. 2007.The mania of the time. Falconry and bird brooches at Uppåkra and beyond. On the Road. Studies in honour of Lars Larsson (Eds. Birgitta Hårdh, Kristina Jennbert and Deborah Olausson). Acta Archaeologica 4:26. s. 24-28. Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell International.

The September issue of National Geographic has a story on Iron Age bog bodies. The story highlights the use of new tools such as CT scans, radiocarbon dating, and 3D imaging, and is accompanied by an artistic photo spread. The additional scientific information is shining a new light on the fanciful theories of the past, as well as the damage the bodies have sustained at the hands of peat diggers and overeager curators.

DNA analysis has shown that the Windeby “girl” was probably a boy, while radiocarbon dating reveals that a supposed lover buried nearby lived three centuries earlier. A Danish team using CT scans to reexamine Danish bog bodies has concluded that many of the injuries previously attributed to ritual violence may have been inflicted during excavation (often done accidentally by a backhoe) or by the pressure of the bog itself. However, even after discounting specific injuries, the larger riddle of ritual sacrifice remains.

NOVA’s program website The Perfect Corpse features extensive information and teaching materials, including Seamus Heaney’s poem The Tollund Man — you can read the text and hear audio of Heaney reading the poem. Both sites also have excellent photos, including pictures of the Swabian knot, a hairstyle described by Tacitus.

This is an area where Celtic and Germanic cultures sometimes seem to be considered together as though they were a single monolithic culture making sacrifices to a generic fertility deity, so it was nice to see the National Geographic author take care to draw a distinction at one point: “… even if Kelly is right about the royal status of Irish bog bodies, people on the Continent had a different culture—Germanic rather than Celtic—chiefs instead of kings, and, almost certainly, other rites of sacrifice.“

The second edition of Neil Price’s The Viking Way: Religion and War in the Later Iron Age of Scandinavia is now available on Amazon. This is a groundbreaking study of the archaeological evidence for Heathen religious practices, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the second edition. Here’s a description from Oxbow books:

The Viking Way: Religion and War in the Later Iron Age of Scandinavia, second edition. by Neil Price

Magic, ritual and sorcery are prevalent themes in medieval Icelandic sagas, but do they reflect reality or are they a literary and poetic construct? Neil Price’s thesis examines the literary and archaeological evidence for Old Norse sorcery and especially the important link between religion and war. He traces evidence for Viking mytholgy and cosmology, for the function, practice and practitioners of sorcery and war rituals. What he reveals is that violence played a crucial role in early medieval power systems in Scandinavia and in particular where there existed `a gender-encoded control of organised violence’. The evidence is placed within the context, and in comparison with, Germanic and circumpolar societies, and the archaeological evidence is accompanied by many excellent illustrations. second edition (Oxbow Books, forthcoming 2007)

Praise for the first edition of The Viking Way
“One of the most important contributions to Viking studies in recent years, quite possibly in recent decades … an exceptional book … essential reading” Dr. Matthew Townend, Antiquity

“This will be the starting point for any discussion of early northern religion from now on … this book is about to become famous … it is the sense of being invited back-stage in history to discover not magic realism, but the reality behind the magic” Professor Martin Carver, Fornvännen

“Takes the reader on an exciting journey … anyone reading Price’s book will never again be able to romanticise the Vikings and their time … here the terror and madness of the Viking Age Odin cult and its war-fixation emerge unvarnished … a book that is going to be debated for a long time to come” Professor Gro Steinsland, Collegium Medievale

“A big, packed, inspirational book … one of those that moves archaeology forwards, gives it nourishment and opens new avenues” Professor Else Roesdahl, Kuml

“This refreshing, thoroughly researched and inspirational book sheds exciting new light on the Viking Age. I am already recommending it to all my students” Dr. Terry Gunnell, University of Iceland

“A fresh and stimulating analysis which unites archaeology and ethnography and makes excellent use of both” Professor Richard Bradley, University of Reading

“A ground-breaking work of research in archaeology and the humanities, with an impact that will be felt for many years … it has turned our view of this period upside down” Professor Helle Vandkilde, University of Aarhus

In Sweden the book has received prizes from the Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and the Royal Gustav Adolf Academy, and in 2005 the author was awarded the prestigious King Oscar II Prize from Uppsala University.

The Norwegian paper Aftenposten reports that the Viking graves from the famous Oseberg and Gokstad ship burials will be reopened in September for further study.

Experts fear the human remains from Viking times may be in the process of disintegrating, if they haven’t already. They want to try to extract them to apply new methods of studying bone matter that can yield new information on the Vikings’ genetics and background.

Bone fragments from one of the Oseberg women were subjected to DNA analysis earlier this year. The tests showed a link to the Black Sea area.

Both ships can be seen at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo.

Swedish archaeologist Dr. Martin Rundkvist has written up a brief article on a gold foil figure die that his team found in April. He has published the preprint on his blog.

The die would have been used to make small gold foil figures known as guldgubbar. Guldgubbar, which are only found in Scandinavia, date from the Vendel period and depict men and women singly and in pairs. The figures have been interpreted as gods or heroes, although contemporary scholars are beginning to dispute this interpretation.

This piece depicts a single woman. The line drawing at left shows the woman’s dress and posture; she may be sitting on a low stool. Although the meaning of their iconography is unclear, guldgubbar are the expression of a high Heathen aristocratic culture. Rudolph Simek’s paper Rich and Powerful: the Image of the Female Deity in Migration Age Scandinavia is a detailed interpretation of exactly this type of figure. Simek’s student Sharon Ratke has a website where she shares her own research, along with more information such as maps, a bibliography, and lots of pictures.

According to a March 26 story in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, bones from the Oseberg ship burial have been subjected to DNA analysis.

The bones of one of the women found in one of Norway’s most famous Viking graves suggest her ancestors came from the area around the Black Sea. The woman herself was “Norwegian,” claims Professor Per Holck at the University of Oslo, who has conducted analyses of DNA material taken from her bones. But Holck says that while she came from the area that today is Norway, her forefathers may have lived in the Black Sea region.

For more information, see the full story in English.

According to an April 4 press release at Sami information site Samer.se, Swedish Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth is positive toward an official request to return Sami remains located in Swedish museums. The Sami site quotes an April 3 press release by Liljeroth:

I understand that the Sami wish to rebury their ancestors, rather than having them in museum storerooms. I will work toward having these remains returned where they belong as soon as possible. We are now in dialogue with the authorities to make this a reality. This is a question of ethics and morality coming from the heart; to speak of research value and the like must then come in second place. [my translation — ed.]

In autumn 2006 the government conducted an inventory of indigenous people’s remains in Swedish museums. In February 2007, the Sami Parliament requested that Sami remains be returned. The issue has been debated in the media since then, and the debate is sure to continue.

The Local, an English language portal for Swedish news, has a story today about an intriguing archaeological find in southeastern Sweden: a patrix, or die stamp used for making gold figures.

An amateur archeologist has made an unusual sixth century find at the burial mounds in Sättuna on the outskirts of Linköping.

On the first day of excavations at the site in the south east of Sweden, Niklas Krantz discovered a patrix, a sort of die used to emboss pieces of gold.

According to a more detailed story at the Swedish newspaper Östgöta Correspondenten, this type of patrix would have been used to make guldgubbar, small flat gold figures showing a high level of detail. According to this story, the figure may represent a woman of high status or even the Goddess Freya. Freelance archaeologist Martin Rundkvist calls the find exciting, due to the rarity of these objects, and because the manufacture of guldgubbar indicates an artistocratic presence. The research is being done under the aegis of the County Museum, with the mission of analyzing the political geography of the area during the period 400-1000 CE. The archaeologists had special permission to use a metal detector near the Sättuna grave mound, but they do not have permission from the County government to excavate the mound itself.